A case of disappearing of seized Sal wood has surfaced in Saptari.
A tractor full of wood was seized in Thelaiya area of Kanchanrup Municipality but it disappeared on the way back to the authorities.
The woods were seized under the presence of a forest officer, consumer group, and police on May 3 from the tractor (State 2-03-001 Ta 1750).
The seized quantity is said to be more than a dozen window frames. However, they only submitted one of them, which was about to decay, to the Sub-division Forest Office, Rupnagar.
After the information about the official’s involvement in disappearing of the woods started reaching the locals, the Forest Office took action against the officer. The Saptari Forest Office transferred Forester Dhan Raj Mandal.
Likewise, the district forest office also formed a committee to investigate the matter. “The team had submitted a small window frame and one quintal wheat to the forest office in Rupnagar. However, the recent information surfacing in the society shows that there is something dubious.
It is why we have formed a committee to investigate it and transferred forester Mandal for now,” said Santosh Kumar Jha, chief at Saptari Forest Division Office.
The committee has been formed under Rupnagar Sub-division Forest Office chief Rajendra Prasad Chaudhary.“We have interrogated the tractor driver Chandra Kumar Rai and tractor owner Nitesh Rai. We found that the wood was being transported from local Kuber Majhi’s house,” said Chaudhary.
Meanwhile, the police informed that they had intervened at a crowd around a tractor which led to the seizure of wood.“The seized items were a window frame and two sacks of wheat. It was what we directly submitted to the sub-division forest office,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Suresh Mandal of Theliya Area Police Office.
Nevertheless, the locals have declined to accept the statements citing that there were some illegal moves after the seizure
Source : THE RISING NEPAL,
